[December - December's dimly lit bedchamber]

December sat upright in the large chair in is bedroom, eyes open, his face drawn into a slight frown. He might have been enjoying the warmth of the fireplace, but, despite the frosty temperature of the room, there was no fire. The dim light from an oil lantern illuminated December's pale, stern face, and thick head of hair that was neither gray nor silver, but stark white. His eyes were an unnatural shade of cool, sky blue that almost seemed to glow with a light of their own.

The large man sat motionless, and would have appeared dead if it weren't for the slow, deliberated rise and fall of his breast. December was very much alive. His mind was a bustle of activities. Thinking. Plotting. Calculating. Action and reaction. Cause and effect. Enemies both new and ancient were played against each other amongst his ever-shrinking collection of allies. Men and entire organizations were destroyed, remade, and destroyed again. His plans became more and more detailed, with increasingly intricate variations. An enormous web that entangled all, actively trapping and suffocating some, while allowing others to doom themselves with their own ignorance and frailty. And at the center of this web sat December, the all-seeing, all-knowing lord of his kingdom, plotting and planing.

There was a slight tingle behind his left ear. Somewhere, on the lower floor of the house, a ward had been tripped. It could have been an intruder, but December was familiar with this ward and its placement. J'Hasp was returning. He glanced over to one of the far corners of the room, where a small ragged hole had been clawed into the wall. It was roughly circular, one foot in diameter, and lead into a crawlspace behind the wall. In turn, the crawlspace lead into a secret passage to the outside of the house. The passage was one of many, but this particular one was far too small for any human to use. J'Hasp, however, was not human.

The pale gray creature that began to squeeze itself out of the hole bore only a passing resemblance to a man. The head was mostly smooth, with occasional patches of translucent scales or yellowish-brown fur. Whiskers surrounded the creature's man-like mouth and nose. The eyes were coal black, but they moved with a sort of subdued intelligence. An arm ending in a clawed hand was thrust into the room, and December watched unaffected as J'Hasp effortlessly emerged from the wall. He had ceased to become amazed at the creature's inhuman contortions and flexible bones long ago. He had seen J'Hasp squeeze himself through openings less than half the size of the one through which he now entered.

J'Hasp extruded his thin frame through the hole and into December's bedchamber, and then assumed his usual stooped stance, hunching over so that his fingers dragged the floor, his claws making small gouges in the wood. He rarely, if ever, drew himself up to his full 5'9" height, but instead, preferred to hunch himself over into a position that would be dreadfully painful to any human. His long, prehensile tail snaked through the air behind him. The sight was truly grotesque.

"Newss Masster," J'Hasp hissed. His voice could have been that of a snake or a giant cat.

"What is it, friend?"

"Rivuss sseekss you. Hass important newwsss. Wishess to sspeak with you."

December took a deep breath, his mind working to discern what the so-called master thief wanted with him. The Night's Bloom was to conduct an important shipment for him tonight. Jewels for his store. Nothing had gone wrong with that shipment, for if it had, December's magic would have alerted him immediately. What did Rivus want? In the few months that the Night's Bloom had been working for him, December had observed that Rivus had a knack for overstatement and false urgency. Still, he wouldn't summon him unless it were truly important. He knew better.

"We'll leave shortly." December said to J'Hasp

"Iss Important. Wishess to sspeak right away."

"Two hours, then." Frowning, December returned to his thoughts.

His message delivered, J'Hasp dove back through the small hole and into the darkness behind wall.

[Rivus - Night's Bloom "headquarters"]

Rivus paced the damp floor impatiently. He'd sent word through December's...thing...as instructed, and now the man kept him waiting. It had been almost two hours, not that he'd been counting. He wasn't particularly eager to be in December's presence, tonight or any other night. The man scared him. Terrified him. Then there were these caves. December had insisted that the Night's Bloom relocate from those wonderfully dry caves in the forest south of Montfort to these damp, dark catacombs beneath the city. This place gave Rivus the creeps, and was quite unhealthy. Rivus's nose had been running almost continuously since the move. His throat was sore. He didn't feel at all well. December was the last person that he needed to be in close proximity with, since his presence was always accompanied by a twenty or thirty degree drop in temperature. If that didn't send Rivus to his death bed then nothing would. He'd wanted to speak with December before the night chill set in... get this unpleasantness out of the way.

A shout from above, in the abandoned building which stood above the catacombs, indicated that someone had arrived. The steadily increasing chill in the air indicated that the visitor was December. He wondered if he'd brought his pet...thing... J'Hasp with him. Probably. He hoped the thing stayed hidden; having to look at it more than once a night would make Rivus nauseous.

"Minis! Hars!" shouted Rivus. "He's here!" Several men appeared and stood near Rivus. Their hands were conspicuously kept in plain view, well away from their weapons. They didn't want any misunderstandings.

"What is this about?" December's voice boomed from the darkness. The large man stepped into the torch-lit chamber and approached Rivus. Rivus took a few steps back. Both men appeared to want to keep a reasonable distance from each other. Rivus scanned the shadows behind December, and caught a glimpse of something moving deep within them. His stomach turned.

Rivus open his mouth to speak, but sneezed violently instead. Both men took another step back.

"I'm waiting."

"The shipment was attacked. We defended it successfully."

"Of course you did. I would know if it were otherwise. Who were the attackers?"

"We don't know," said Hars, a rough man of medium build. "They had good weapons. High quality. Good armor with no ensignia. They fought like professionals, but we had superior numbers. And magic."

"These weren't ordinary highwaymen, sir," added Rivus, "Could mean trouble."

"I am paying you to help me avoid that sort of 'trouble.'"

"And we are, sir! We have a name. Possibly. Tell him, Minis."

A small, mousey youth stepped forward. Obviously a new addition to the Night's Bloom. December studied newcomer and quickly came to the conclusion that he did not like him.

"What do you have to tell me, boy?"

Minis frowned slightly, insulted at being called a boy.

"You wanted us to watch others in Montfort who were... less than legitimate. Keep an eye on the competition-"

"I have no competition." December scowled.

"I...uh, well I've been watching Ben Cerin. He trades in food and spices. And weapons. High quality and unmarked, like the ones used in the attack. He has ties to the Thieves Guild, and other groups in several other cities. It could have been him who-"

"Or it could have been anyone to whom he has sold weapons! This name is meaningless!"

"But it's all we have, sir," injected Rivus. He didn't want to see the Night's Bloom's newest member frozen and shattered on the floor. Witnessing December's wrath once in a lifetime was quite enough. "This Benjamin Cerin knows who you are, knows you trade in jewels and valuables. He could be trying to threaten you...run a protection scheme. Or maybe just frighten you, just a little, so you'll stay away from his business.

"If he knows of me, then he must be aware that I to not frighten. At all. He must also know that I will not abide the larcenous schemes of amateurs. This makes no sense."

"You can never know what a man's thinking, sir. What motivates him."

"Not true. " stated December. "You are a fool to think that human motivations are beyond my grasp. Just because your feeble understanding cannot comprehend a thing, does not mean that the same is true for others. Watch this man Benjamin very closely. Record his every move and report it to me. If he fancies himself to be my rival, his actions will soon show it, and he will have to be...removed."

"Yes, sir."

December turned and made his way out of the catacombs and up through the abandoned building. No guards hailed him or even looked in his direction as he departed. His mind was once again a bustling hive of activity. Things were not as they seemed. This Benjamin Cerin was a small time dealer of quality goods, some of which happened to be illegal. December had done his own research, and knew the depth of Minis's exaggeration. Cerin had connections to the underground, yes, but not to the kind of supposed professionals that had dared attack his shipment. If there ever was an attack. Then there was the small matter of the shipment itself... the one issue that he had intentionally avoided bringing up with Rivus: Only December and the Night's Bloom knew of the shipment and its contents, which meant that, at best, there was a leak of information somewhere in Rivus's organization. This was not surprising. At worst, the Night's Bloom housed traitors who sought to steal from him or betray him to some unknown enemy. Most upsetting. Still, it wouldn't be the first time...